Levi x OC | Humanity's Greatest

3 - Shut up and let me talk

Levi lead me to a large willow tree that stood proudly on the outskirts of the military camp. The tree was old and overgrown, it's withering branches curled and twisted so that they almost touched the ground. It was beautiful.

"Follow me" Levi grunted before using his 3DMG to boost himself high up into the heart of the ancient tree.

I rolled my eyes. 'What's with all the cloak and dagger?' I murmured to myself before following the mysterious boy.

Levi and I sat down on a sturdy branch that overlooked the entire training camp. You could see absolutely everything. In fact, you could almost see straight through the window of Commander Erwin's office...

"So?" I looked at Levi. "What's all this about?"

Levi looked back at me, he was almost staring, as if he was trying to figure something out.

"I was thinking...we should train together"

"Huh?" I asked him, perplexed. "We already do train together...like, every day"

"Tch" Levi scowled at me. "I know that, idiot. I meant just me and you"

A small smirk played on my lips. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Don't get the wrong idea, I wouldn't dream of doing anything like that with you"

Now it was my turn to scowl. "Glad we cleared that up" I muttered.

"I wanted us to train alone so that we could get used to each other without that weird bitch bossing us around" Levi said.

"Hanji? She's not so bad..."

"That's not my point." Levi butted in. "Hanji won't be in your squad on the next expedition, whereas I will"

"I guess I can see where you're coming from..." I trailed off. "Hey! Wait a second! The other day you told me you weren't interested in getting to know me!"

"Yeah, and you called me a miserable prick" Levi retorted.

"Hmph" I felt slightly defeated. "Then I guess we're even"

The annoying boy looked at me with slight anticipation. "So is that a yes?"

"On one condition"

Levi rolled his eyes. "What is it?"

"Tell me what happened on the last expedition." I took a breath. "Tell me how you killed that Titan"

Levi closed his eyes. He looked as though he was thinking. I took the opportunity to get a good look at him, the way his jaw stood out and the way his eyebrows seemed to be constantly frowning, as if the entire world was too good for him. I was interrupted by Levi sighing.

"Alright, fine." He said.

"Before I came here, I lived in one of the cities underground-"

"Woah!" I interrupted. "I thought those cities were just fairytales!"

"Shut up and let me talk, brat" Levi barked.

I grunted an apology and stayed quiet whilst he carried on with his story.

"I lived with my best friend, Farlan. We'd been friends since we were kids, he was more like my brother than anything else. We got up to trouble for a living, committed petty crimes and made a name for ourselves..." Levi breathed. "One day we got our hands on some 3DMG and we never looked back, it was as if we were flying. It was the closest to freedom we ever thought we'd get, living in that place. A few years later we met Isabel, she was an outcast like us, no home, no job...So we took her in. It was a good life. One day we were employed to do a particularly tricky job, we had to steal documents from Erwin Smith"

I gasped. "Commander Erwin?!"

"Yeah. But the payment was irresistible. The reward for completing the job was a home on the surface. An escape from our underground cage."

For a second, I thought Levi was smiling, reminiscing about his old life. But the smile disappeared as soon as it had come and it was as if it was never there in the first place.

"Naturally, we took the job. We attracted the attention of the survey corps and soon enough, Erwin himself was chasing us through our hometown. I didn't realise how good he was...I..." Levi scowled. "He caught us, handcuffed us and gave us a choice. Join the survey corps or go to prison. I had to choose what was best for myself, but Isabel and Farlan too. We joined the Survey Corps but as far as I was concerned the job was still on, I wanted to get those documents from Erwin Smith and live on the surface. The three of us were trained, briefly, and before we knew it we were on our first expedition beyond the walls..."

Suddenly, Levi looked as if he was going to throw up, but he carried on:

"That abnormal that killed so many men...It killed Farlan and Isabel too. They died screaming and I wasn't there to save them."

"Levi, you don't have to carry on" I breathed. Unable to imagine the pain he must have still been in.

He ignored me. "The Survey Corps was all that was left for me. Erwin's given me a second chance, so here I am"

"I...I'm so sorry" I could feel tears pricking my eyes and I was almost unable to speak after Levi's story.

"Don't be." Levi's expression had reverted back to its usual emotionless state. "It's late, you should get some sleep"

"Yeah..." I agreed as I stood up from my sitting position. "Goodnight Levi"

"Night, Grace"

*The Next Morning*

I tried to keep my eyes open as I stood with the other soldiers at the crack of dawn as Commander Erwin addressed us. The night I had spent with Levi was really taking its toll on me. I made a mental note to get an extra hours sleep in for the next few nights.

Erwin's voice boomed through the camp. "Soldiers! We have finalised the date for the next expedition beyond the walls!"

There were a few fearful gasps amongst the soldiers. I looked around me and spotted Levi standing a few metres away. He looked completely calm, completely focused. On the exterior he looked fearless, but I was almost one hundred percent sure he was frightened for the weeks to come.

Erwin carried on. "You have one month to gather your strength! The aim of the expedition will be to capture a live Titan!"

More gasps. I'd never heard of a Titan being captured alive before. It sounded like a highly beneficial, very deadly mission.

After a quick debrief from the commander, we were all dismissed. Everyone around me looked scared, even Erwin himself seemed on edge.

Levi approached me almost immediately after dismissal.

"Grace" His baritone voice reached my ears.

"Yeah?"

Levi's expression was grave, yet determined.

"We need to get to work"